So-called social networking and online collaboration Web sites have become very popular among users of the Internet. Although differences exist, most of these sites allow users some form of self-expression (e.g., identifying likes, dislikes, interests, displaying photos, videos, etc.) and provide facilities for users to exchange correspondence with one another. As such, these virtual communities seek to emulate physical world social organizations in which users of a community are tied together by shared interests, business, friendship, kin, or other relationships.
A common failing of these conventional social networking sites, however, is that the need to monetize the operation of the site inevitably leads to an eroding of its individual users' privacy. And, any privacy that is given is limited at the boundary of the website being used, as data encryption for customer data makes it hard to develop and maintain software and provide customer service. Users' contact lists, communication threads, and profiles are fertile grounds for advertisers and retailers seeking to drum up business and operators of social networking sites have taken to selling access to such information in exchange for revenue. In cases where users are permitted to opt out of such programs, the volume of personal information that is readily displayed to anyone who cares to review individual user profiles can be staggering, particularly from the standpoint of information available to employees of the service entity. Because the information exists in electronic form, it is easy to copy and transport and so can easily wind up in the wrong hands. At times it seems like an entire generation has freely ceded access to what has traditionally been considered private information.
Another common problem that surrounds conventional social networking and online collaboration sites is that each represents its own walled garden. Sites compete with one another for user attention and allow little, if any, portability and interoperability for user profiles and content. Presently, interoperability between users of these different websites is dictated by business agreements, and often, the business entities do not cooperate even in these agreements to benefit the users. As a result, users often create profiles at many different social network sites. Yet, they cannot create their own use case easily, and users have been forced to adopt multiple services and multiple accounts within a service for different facets of their lives, be it work or personal. This creates multiple communication streams that users must continually monitor in order to keep abreast of their friends' activities.